1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for the separation of magnetizable particles from a stream of material, particularly from a fine granular solid which is guided by a carrier medium in a channel through a magnetic field of high field intensity of at least 15,000 Gauss extending partially in the direction of the stream of the material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A method and apparatus are described in the published German application No. 2,159,525 in which magnetizable particles are separated from a fine granular solid with the aid of a magnetic field produced by means of superconductive coils. In the case of this known method, however, the fine granular solid to be prepared is first suspended in a carrier medium and then distributed over the entire cross section of the carrier medium channels which extend through the magnetic field. This method has the disadvantage that, for example, upon the separation of magnetizable ore from its gangue, particles of gangue located in proximity to the wall do not permit of separation from the magnetizable particles, and then on the other hand, magnetizable particles located approximately in the center of the flow channel must move over the full width of the channel through the entire suspension stream. In this manner, in the known method, the sharpness of separation and the output is impaired to an appreciable degree.
In addition, as the discharge of the separated magnetizable particles is to take place solely through a partial stream of the carrier medium, a depositing of the magnetizable particles in the area of the separating zone on the channel wall cannot be prevented so that such particles adhere to the wall and so that during the course of the time the free flow cross-section of the channel decreases.